The migration continues and the days are still getting longer.
We are at 18 hours, 6 minutes of daylight with an hour of dawn/dusk on
either side and will ciontinue to gain 6-7 minutes daily through
solstice.
So needless to say I can relate to those complaining about bird songs
at
night. Through my open window I am currently hearing Mew Gull,
Sandhill
Crane, Common Raven, Hammond's Flycatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet,
American
Robin, Bohemian Waxwing, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco,
White-winged
Crossbill, and many Redpolls.

The Redpolls now have fledged young and all of the new mothers (in
honor
of the day) are busily flitting about. The Hammond's only arrived
two nights ago and surprisingly stuck around, despite the few deciduous
trees in the area. The Bohemians, while resident, are new to the
yard as well. They have been foraging on recent insect hatches in
the spruce tops that ring the yard and from the few birches which are
1/4
to 1/2 way leafed out. The temp is near 60 degrees F
currently.
It is interesting that there are two male White-winged Crossbills are
in
full song despite finding a nest 2 nights ago with two nearly fledged
young.
Between the waxwings, the singing Juncos & Crossbills, and the
multitude
of calling Redpolls it is a sort of study of trills as they all over
lap.
This burry chorus is accompanied by the melodiousYellow-rumpeds,
Robins,
and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, the rhythmic "sid-dick" from the Hammond's,
and the distant bugling of the Sandhill Crane and Common Raven.

This is my first migration and breeding season at this residence, so
it is always fun tuning your ear for the specific composition of any
one
area. Given the habitat, I had anticipated the sweet sounds of
Thrushes,
namely Swainson's, Hermit, and Varied. Gray-cheekeds are a common
Alaskan species too, but they inhabit the higher elevations and prefer
willows to spruce. It is still early though, and my flute section
may just be running a tad late.

Like so many others, I always associate the Varied Thrush and its
song
with mature spruce stands as that is inevitably where you find them
throughout
most of their range. However, each summer while touring the
Seward
Peninsula near Nome, I am surprised to hear them singing from willow
laden
slopes hundreds of miles from the nearest spruce. Regardless of
how
many times I hear this it sends my system into shock, because it seems
so out of place mixed with Bluethroats, Wagtails, and Arctic
Warblers.
I have never noticed that this "willow population" differs in looks
from
those in the spruce, but in typical Varied Thrush fashion the birds
remain
fairly well hidden when singing. Nor have I noticed any great
difference
in song, but as the name suggests, the song is varied and a typical
song
pattern is hard to describe.

At any rate, back to matters at hand. Most common waterfowl
species
have been reported already, and only a few such as Blue-winged Teal and
Gadwall and some of the sea ducks remain unreported from the
interior.
Eleven species of shorebirds have been reported as well, all in full
song,
display, and color. The Lesser Yellowlegs are tooting from spruce
tops already (it's a northern thing!), and Common Snipe are winnowing
everywhere.
Arctic Terns are swirling over most large ponds throughout and the Mew
Gulls are perching like sentinels in tree tops next to the
Yellowlegs.
While the resident passerines are busy feeding young, the migrants
continue
to arrive each day. I see new species daily whether actively
birding
or not. Some new species recorded this week include:
Sharp-shinned
Hawk, American Golden Plover, Arctic Tern, Violet-green & Bank
Swallows,
Swainson's & Varied Thrushes, Savannah, Fox, Lincoln's,
White-crowned,
and Golden-crowned Sparrows, among others.

I took a few hours out yesterday and went to the South Cushman Flats
and the Airport Ponds in town. The area is a man made dredge
spoil
between the dump and the airport and serves as the best shorebird spot
we have here in the interior. It's ironic that here we are in the
middle of a fantastic wilderness, and the best birding area is a
disturbed
area. To see near the variety or number of birds one sees at
So.
Cushman, you would have to visit dozens of small ponds that are widely
scattered and not accessible.

At any rate, I drove the perimeter first and saw my first pair of
horned
grebes for the season. They were fully decked out, and along with
the many waterfowl species, were actively courting and starting a
nest.
There were a few Canada Geese, but no swans. Water levels are low
locally so the typical swans and geese have had to find new areas this
year. Additionally there were dozens of Green-winged Teal,
Mallards,
and hundreds of Northern Pintail. There were many No.
Shovelers
around in small groups and hundreds of American Wigeon.
Canvasback
were the most numerous diving species, followed by 40-50 Lesser Scaup,
a handful of Ring-necked Ducks, 4 Bufflehead, and 6 Common Goldeneye
with
a pair of Barrow's for direct comparison.

I had my first pair of alternate plumaged American Golden Plovers of
the season with a third bird in mostly basic (non-breeding)
plumage.
I saw my first pair of Semipalmated Plovers and Semipalmated and Least
Sandpipers joined a group of Pectorals. My first flock of
Long-billed
Dowitchers wheeled in giving their distinctive, "KEEK" calls.
Always
helpful, but especially so here in Alaska where the caurinus
sub-species
of Short-billed occurs. This is the subspecies that is most
similar
to Long-billed. They settled in next to a pair of Hudsonian
Godwits.

Content that I had seen all there was to see for the moment, I
pulled
into my favorite area to play with my dogs. The area is my
favorite
because it is more glass free than the rest of the area, the pond on
one
side has a deep edge and hard packed edge (so I can have the dogs jump
in and free themselves of the mud they have picked up!) The "boys" ran
up and down back and forth always staying within 100 foot or so while I
continued to glass the water comparing the goldeneyes, etc. We've
done this enough now that they know getting too far away will result in
a reprimand and possibly being banished to the car again.

Then the boys and I played a little stick watching and waiting (have
a 100 lb. Black Lab, and a 80 lb. mostly Golden Retriever
thing.
Both think they are lap dogs!). After a while, I spotted a
distant
flap, flap, glide that seemed to ring a bell. I pulled myself out
of the game and glassed across the flats to see my first adult
Sharp-shinned
of the season, a female. After some swimming to clean the boys
up,
I asked them to lay down in a grassy patch while they dried some and I
went back to the scope for a while. Birds began scattering every
which way so I pulled back and looked toward the sky . Here was
an
adult Bald Eagle sailing over. In the surrounding shrubs I could
hear Flickers calling, a Fox Sparrow, 2 Tree Sparrows, a distant
Yellow-rumped,
a Junco, 2 Robins, a small group of Rusty Blackbirds, and another
Hammond's
Flycatcher. The birds were just getting settled back in when I
spotted
an adult Peregrine Falcon going right to left just 50' up. I
expected
a good show, but someone was pulling up the drive and I decided to put
the boys back in the van to keep them from getting filthy again.
The car passed, but when I tried to find my falcon again it was
gone.
I decided to scan the entire horizon once again. Far and high off
to the right a falcon was soaring, I grabbed the scope and quickly
swung
it around. Here was a bird that appeared to have broader, blunt
wings,
with a pearly gray back. There was no definition in the face, and
no contrast between the breast and belly as in an adult
Peregrine.
This bird had all the look of an adult gray Gyr, but I'd never know as
it were drifting away and I had responsibilities at home I needed to
attend
to. I left still wondering had I seen a Peregrine?....Was the
distant
bird the same?.....Regardless, it was a fun couple of hours and I was
able
to see a lot of old friends. Ain't Birding Grand?.....